In writing the previous post about the Tarot de Marseille Devil, I’d become interested in Typhon as a mytho-alchemical archetype. The deep-delve into research and ‘essay’ writing had also provided a needed Sherlock distraction from still-too-recent bereavement. You’d think grief might fuel some kind of creative expression for an artist, but often it is just too dense a material to work with. Sometimes all one can do is be in the blackness.
Classic Typhon
Down here, at the bottom of the bog-womb, far away from rational thought, gelatinous, amphibious beings are secretly spawning the makings of renewal. That is their sole business. At the deepest, pitch-black ocean levels, creatures deemed monstrous by ‘above’ standards float embryonically in conditions that would kill us, creating their own phosphorescence and exerting as little energy as possible. This is no longer the realm of Neptune and his entourage of Nereids, but of Typhon and his posse of Gorgons.
Amphibious Typhon
Having no luck with my more sophisticated art attempts, I decided to just linger here and sketch the monster. As children, isn’t that one of the first things we draw? Because these embodiments of our young emotions and fears also serve as guardians of our budding imagination and creative process. Who would dare question them on why they have 7 heads or spit poison barf? And in the psychology of myth and fairy tale, the only hero who will ultimately be able to overcome the monster is the one who created it.
Demonic-Draconic Typhon
As it happened, in doing these initial studies, the juices of inspiration began to flow again. Researching and writing about Typhon in relation to the TdM Devil was enlightening, I came to understand the archetype as a primal, hermaphroditic, self-reproducing creative force, as well as the alembic itself. But intellectual understanding is not enough, one has to experience the process. And the heck, drawing monsters is fun. ~rb
Concept for Disney’s Snow White by Gustaf Tenggren – alchemy much?
With chthonic ‘dwarf planet’ Pluto at 29 Capricorn and opposite Black Moon Lilith at 29 Cancer, I was reminded of the ‘alchemist mining the earth’. In fact , this theme, I *believe* was central to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. ‘Hair black as ebony, skin as white as snow, lips red as blood’ happen to be the three ‘distinct’ phases of the Magnum Opus; nigredo, albedo, rubedo (sometimes there was a 4th, citrinitas, between the albedo and rubedo). These were also enumerated to seven stages, corresponding with the seven planetary spheres…or dwarfs. Not to mention that glass ‘coffin’.
Here is the clip I was rereading from my files, and apologies, I don’t remember where I originally clipped it from, but it is a quote (must be old, as it uses ‘man’, maybe from Jung?):
“The alchemist mining the earth. Mining or going inside the earth is the first step in the alchemical process. The earth is the body or oneself. Going inside the earth is equal to going into your inner self. Thus we are invited to descend into the earth, into the underworld, or the unconscious. The earth is the symbol of physical man. Man needs to become conscious of his inner world, who he is, what he is doing, what his motives are, and so on. Once attention is directed inwards, a whole new world opens: the underworld of Hades, the dark realm of shadows and monsters.“
And this is from another source, regarding the black phase or ‘nigredo’:
“Here, we are being asked to let go of all within us and outside of us that is false, inauthentic, and not in full alignment with the truth of who we are. This is a truth as it exists on a soul level, far beyond the ego and its limited ideas or illusions about who we “should” be.”
Is it possible that we’re now collectively getting ready to ‘birth’ out of the ‘nigredo’ stage? We began descent into fermentation blackness when Pluto entered Capricorn (feminine earth sign) back in 2008. About a year and a half prior, Pluto had been “demoted” to ‘dwarf planet’ by a handful of young astronomers who thought they were clever by disempowering the planet-god. Clearly, Pluto was in fact operating through them from that unconscious, Hadean realm over which he presides. [Side note: I bet Pluto will take its former status back once it is securely in Aquarius.] As it is, too, with Black Moon Lilith, who loves the freedom of darkness and invisibility of night. In Cancer, the sign of the Moon and mother, she represents the ‘uterine’ blackness itself, the void people desperately try to to a-void but that must be traversed. Our fear of death likely has much to do with our memories of that messy and shocking business of rebirth.
When Ishtar descended into the underworld, she had to leave a veil or some such trapping at each of the seven gates she went through (i.e, stages/planetary spheres). Even then, she had the hubris to want to sit on her sister Ereshkigal’s throne, and for this, she was hung up on a meat hook until she learned her lesson. We can also think of the Hanged Man in Tarot, Odin, and the Freemasons’ weird hanging upside down ritual, meant to instill that same sense of emptying out the false self so as to receive true knowledge that is the ultimate unification of self with world knowledge. The mystery ‘cults’ of Ancient Greece and Rome likely had similar purpose (though originally based on fertility/seasons).
These types of healing and initiation rituals are as old as we are, and are related to vision quests. I am sure paleolithic humans/shamans weren’t so much concerned with ‘self and non-self’ but nevertheless, soul-loss or theft was considered a cause of sickness and their work involved traversing into other realms, perhaps through a pitch black, uterine cave passage, to set things right or be instructed by other beings, ancestors, animal spirits, etc. We exist in more than just this one, as we know simply from dreaming.
Dali Tarot Hanged Man
What happens much of the time is, people start going through this ‘inward’ process unconsciously and are either unaware or resistant. All one knows is the depression, self-loathing or other emotional unpleasantness that arises. This is a calling from deep in the soul, but thinking that it is abnormal and needs to be ‘cured’, one fights it, is taken over by substances used to quell it, or fears losing control, which is akin to death. Because how can one function in this world, with all its glaring eyes, while descending into another? But there is no choice. If we ignore this call, Pluto will then bring about an outer event that will force us inward. That is what has been happening, collectively. The three outer planets are ‘the three alchemists’; Uranus shocks, burns and blows up, Neptune dissolves and dissipates, and Pluto pressure-cooks us into change that is permanent. Their transits are long, affecting entire generations.
Artists, poets and musicians of each generation are modern shaman-alchemists of sorts, who traverse the deepest chasms to bring back healing for the rest of society (you’re welcome). But it’s not exclusive, by any means.
Pluto will be leaving earth and entering air starting March 23 (with two retrogrades back to Cap), followed by Uranus leaving earth and entering air and Neptune leaving water and entering fire, both in 2025. Use the next couple of years, with Saturn in Pisces and the alchemists still submerged or partly submerged, to do your spelunking. If you are hearing the soul’s call, don’t be afraid to descend, to enter the labyrinth (you can leave a golden thread to guide you back out). Perhaps you are already in one of the stages or nearing completion, as many of my Saturn Pisces brethren must be.
Point is, you are full of hidden mysteries and treasures to be mined!
Pluto (aka ‘Total Recall’) moved into Capricorn in early 2009. Since then, we have seen the collapse of the banking system and economic structure, extreme purse tightening, lessons on survival by bark-eating and the beginning of the end for long-standing, dictatorial regimes – all Capricorn’s jurisdiction. Petroleum, too, is associated with Capricorn/Pluto, in that it comes from old bones/fossils buried deep in the Earth…makes me wonder whether long-hidden relics or riches will be uncovered while the underworld God sits on the mountaintop.
Pluto will don the goatskin until 2023. The ruling class, feeling insecure, will likely become ever more secretive, hiding their money under the mattress and stocking up on that which will retain value (ho ho). You and I will just have to get used to living like our great-grandparents and the majority of the world’s population, with gratitude for what we have and knowledge of what’s truly valuable.
When Pluto was ‘demoted’ to Dwarf Planet (by just a handful of astronomers) back in 2006, I thought this was actually quite fitting, considering what dwarves represent as mythic archetypes. In fairy tales, they are often the chthonic guardians of riches beneath the Earth. (In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, they are miners). Sometimes they will live under bridges – thresholds of transformation – demanding near-impossible tasks or tests of any would-be hero who seeks passage. They have the magical power to bestow blessings on the worthy or curses on those who don’t take them seriously.
Pluto is the underworld God of Wealth and chthonic riches, who demands near-impossible tests for our transformation. He has been called the ‘dweller on the threshold’. So the term ‘dwarf planet’ actually expresses Pluto’s concentrated mojo quite well, thank you. And not seeing the planet on astronomical charts anymore just makes it more hidden and mysterious. Astrologers will not be DISsing (pardon pun) Pluto anytime soon.
